


All Up in the Stars

by edgarallanrose



Series: Check, Please! Prompt Fills [22]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, M/M, Summer, Summer in Madison, Year 3 (Check Please!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24864919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgarallanrose/pseuds/edgarallanrose
Summary: Jack loved Bitty.He hadn’t told him yet. They were barely even dating. But the second their lips met for the first time after graduation, when he knew how it felt to hold Bitty in his arms, to be close to him.He knew that was it.Summer Prompt: Watching the fireflies
Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann
Series: Check, Please! Prompt Fills [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1414129
Comments: 12
Kudos: 119





	All Up in the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> samwell-hockey-bois asked: Hi! I love all your stuff! You're a fantastic writer! Could you do a Zimbits fic with either prompts 5 or 25? I guess, if you wanted to you could combine them, but whatever you do I'll probably like it! Thanks and good luck❤
> 
> Unbeta'd. From this [prompts list.](https://edgarallanrose.tumblr.com/post/621030147839180801/soft-summer-prompts)

“And anyway, once you find Venus you can kind of follow along the line for the rest of the planets. And from there you can pinpoint basically any constellation in the sky.”

Jack followed Bitty’s finger as he recalled his Boy Scout days and mapped out the sky above them. They were in Bitty’s backyard after a filling supper, courtesy of Suzanne. Jack was laying on his back, hands underneath him cradling the back of his head. Bitty was sitting up, one arm wrapped tight around his knees. Tall grass brushed their ankles, tickling their skin as a breeze blew in from over the hills; a miraculous reprieve from the Georgia heat. Jack tilted his face into it, closing his eyes. 

“I never got to do scouts,” Jack said, eyes still closed, listening to the shuffle of Bitty’s legs as he stretched out on the grass. “Or any other kind of camp that wasn’t hockey.”

“Really? No other extra curriculars?”

“In 4th grade I joined a book club at school.”

Bitty snorted. “Sounds fun.”

“I wasn’t in it very long. No one ever voted on my book suggestions. But during the summer? I was just at the rink.”

“I did all kinds of stuff in the summer. Vacation bible school. Plenty of sports camps. Horseback riding one year. Skating, of course, especially when I got more serious about it in high school.”

“I’m sure my parents would have sent me to do anything I wanted if I had asked. Summer was just the time my dad was home. I felt like I needed to do something that he was interested in, so we could spend time together.”

“Oh, honey.” Bitty placed a hand on Jack’s knee. 

“Of course I know now that’s not true. He would have spent time with me anyway.”

Bitty just squeezed Jack’s knee. Jack looked up at him, his kind eyes, his warm smile. Jack had worked so hard and so long for all the things he thought that he wanted to be, but ever since the start of the summer he couldn’t think about anything else than the desire to be the center of Bitty’s affection. To do anything in his power to keep a smile on Bitty’s face. To give him just a little bit of the happiness that he was constantly offering everyone in his life. 

Jack loved that about him. 

Jack loved Bitty. 

He hadn’t told him yet. They were barely even dating. But the second their lips met for the first time after graduation, when he knew how it felt to hold Bitty in his arms, to be close to him. 

He knew that was it. 

The back porch light flicked on and Bitty removed his hand, placing it back in his own lap. 

“You boys alright out here?” Suzanne called. 

“We’re fine, Mama.”

“Okay, well I’m headed to bed. Just turn out the lights whenever y’all come inside.”

“We will. Goodnight Mama.”

They both sat quietly for a while, wind whistling through the trees. Jack sat up and leaned his shoulder against Bitty, who leaned right back. 

“Can I kiss you?” Jack asked. 

Bitty shifted away from him. 

“I dunno. My mama. There are windows…”

“That’s okay, we don’t have to.”

“I  _ want  _ to.”

“No, you’re right. We should be careful.”

“Maybe once we’re back in my room?”

Jack smiled. “Sure, Bits. Whatever you want.”

Bitty looked like he was about to say something else, when he looked past Jack’s face, breaking into a grin. He pointed to the corner of the yard. 

“Honey, look!”

Jack turned his head and saw a small cluster of fireflies lazily blinking over the grass. Bitty stood up and Jack followed him, moving slowly towards them. Bitty stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, concentrating, as he snuck up on one resting on the leaf of a rose bush. Bitty gently clasped both hands around it, and reached out to show Jack. They peeked inside his cupped palms, the little bug glowing against his skin.

“Should we put it in a jar?” 

“What? Oh no, they just die the next day when you do that. I always let ‘em go.” 

Jack started hunting to catch his own, but wasn’t having much luck. They always slipped away at the last second. 

“Do y’all have lightning bugs in Canada?” 

“Sometimes, when it’s warm. But we definitely don’t call them lightning bugs.”

“What else would you call them?”

“They’re fireflies, Bits.”

“Oh, excuuuuse me.”

Jack crouched down in the grass, spying two fireflies that were close together. He quickly closed his hands around them. 

“Bittle, look!”

Jack opened his hands just enough so they couldn’t fly away, but Bitty could see. 

“Oh, how sweet.” Bitty said. “I know I said to let ‘em go, but I do wish you could keep ‘em.”

“Maybe I could bring my camera down. I could try to get a picture for you.”

“That’s alright. It can just be a memory” 

Bitty took Jack’s hands in his, prying them open and brushing the fireflies away from Jack’s palm. They watched together as they flew back into the night, twinkling like stars that fell to Earth. 

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm going to be writing different versions of "Summer in Madison" fics until the day I die tbh. It's such a fun part of their relationship to explore!
> 
> If you enjoyed this fic, you can also like and share it on [tumblr](https://edgarallanrose.tumblr.com/post/621289457295982592/hi-i-love-all-your-stuff-youre-a-fantastic) or [twitter!](https://twitter.com/Edgarallanrose1/status/1275169302170263552?s=20)
> 
> Subscribe to me [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgarallanrose/profile) on Ao3, or follow me on [tumblr](https://edgarallanrose.tumblr.com/), and on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Edgarallanrose1) to keep up with my writing and see the next time I'm accepting prompts!


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